Luke Donald retracts from his comments on Tiger Woods in an attempt to control damage
World number one Luke Donald finally retracted from his earlier comments he made on Tuesday, September 13 when he declared that the Tiger Woods era is over. Citing a possible backlash of his strong-worded outpour, Donald deemed it reasonable to contain the
damage which could have a long lasting effects on his relationship with Woods, who still has considerable influence within the sports circles.
Donald reiterated that his comments were never meant to degrade or belittle the once legendary golfer instead he felt it was tough for the 14-major-winner to break the Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors.
"Whether the Tiger era is over, I don't know," Donald, told reporters. "I don't recall ever saying Tiger era is over. Obviously there's a lot of great young players coming up and showing a lot of talent but certainly I would never be naive enough to write
Tiger off."
Woods, who failed to qualify for the lucrative FedExCup Playoff Championship, probably would never be able to return to this week’s venue of Cog Hill Golf and Country Club as this would be the last FedExCup event being played on this course.
Woods has won the BMW Championship, the third leg of the FedExCup title, for a staggering five times but failed to qualify this year due to his winless performance for the last two years. He has also now dropped to number 46th on the Official
World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
The news was published in The Daily Express on Wednesday and many of the critics were surprised of Donald’s hard stance against Woods. The Englishman has rarely ever taken a hard-line towards any of his fellow players and normally keeps a low profile in
the international media.
He was quoted as saying, "Even though Tiger's only 35, there are a lot of young guys coming up now - Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley and a bunch of others. I tend to think a new era is upon us. The Tiger era is over."
The FedExCup challenge will be returning to full swing this week in suburban Chicago at the Cog Hill Country Club and the notorious winds of the city remains a matter of concern for the field. Donald has played well so far in the event and with his stellar
performance throughout the season, he is among the few players who will be moving to the final leg regardless of their performance at BMW Championship this week.
Woods has now returned to his lair after he failed to make the cut in the last major of the year, The PGA Championship. Failing to make it into the season-ending FedExCup Playoffs, Woods cited it as a welcome opportunity which would enable him to go back
practicing.
The 35-year-old has not won a single title since his victory in Australian Open in 2009 and is now facing a serious threat of falling off the top-50 for the first time in his career.
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